Over the summer I have involved myself with an infamous series among kids my age, "The Mortal Instruments" by Cassandra Clare. More specifically; the prequels to the series, "The Infernal Devices". I have finished the first book of the prequels which is titled; "Clockwork Angel" and enjoyed every word on each one of it's pages.
"Clockwork Angel" by Cassandra Clare is an intriguing science fiction and romance book with satisfying content. The series "The Infernal Devices" holds a very twisty and "near-the-edge" plot. The book takes place in 1800s London, surrounding around the protagonist Tessa Gray who has a mysterious power of shape-shifting. She is targeted by the strange Magister of a peculiar club called "The Pandemonium Club" and gets involved with Shadowhunters, a dominant race over other supernatural beings, who's job is to eliminate demons.
What really made my eyes dart from word to word rapidly were the unsuspecting cliff-hangers at the end of mostly every chapter. I was caught off guard several to many times, which chiseled my interest wider. For example when Tessa's brother, Nathaniel Gray, turned out to be a spy sent from the Magister himself, my stomach almost flipped. I had not expected Tessa's brother to simply betray her and agree to hand his blood sister over to an evil man for wealth. Cassandra Clare had gave me the impression throughout the book that Nate was an innocent victim to the Masgister's plans and cared from the bottom of his heart for her sister, Tessa. To so suddenly reveal his true nature was genius!
I also fascinated by the character development of Tessa. As the story began she was under the influence that only men had courage and the bravery to face their enemies. Even as the story exceeded the middle she wasn't able to muster up enough courage to protect herself from constant dangers. The key event that peaked a change in her mind was when she was forced to shoot a bullet at De Quincy, the assumed Magister. Towards the end of the story Tessa pulled of a great feat of faking her death to avoid being captured by the real Magister. Tessa proved herself that she, a girl, could pull of something extremely extraordinary that perhaps most men cannot.
Another factor of Clare's work, "Clockwork Angel" that I appreciated was the balance between the amount of romance and the actual progress of the story plot. In most sci-fi or fantasy books that I mostly pick up and end up abandoning, there is no balance between the two. In most cases the romantic parts of the plot drags on for an immensely long period of time; making the plot to appear to be very slow moving. Clare's book had the right about of emotional scenes at the right moments while the plot progressed at my favorable pace; not to fast where I can't even spare time to comprehend past events, but also not at a snail's pace where I become rather impatient and end up giving up on the book altogether.
I was very happy with the first book of the Infernal Devices series, "Clockwork Angel". The amount of plot twists kept me hooked and on edge. Tessa's development and her grand feat left me breathless. And I thank Cassandra Clare for understanding that there has to be a balance between the all too popular theme; romance, and the actual events of the story.
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